Spotify and Extra Voice Functionality and HDR Are Coming to Sky Q

Sky has just announced the next round of updates that will be appearing on your fancy Sky Q boxes at some point this spring. Heading the latest changes is support for Spotify, as well as extra personalisation options, additional voice functionality, a new interface and an all-new kid's mode.

The Spotify app will be accessible via the Sky Q homepage and will be available to both premium and free account holders. Considering Sky's recently launched Sky Soundbox sound system and the ability to steam to bluetooth speakers, the addition of Spotify makes for a convenient and comprehensive music setup.

The new voice features — because we can't control anything with buttons anymore, apparently — allow you to ask Sky Q for personalised recommendations (i.e. "show movies for me") as well as ask it what the weather is like. It's not going to have the functionality of something like Alexa, but it's certainly moving in that direction.

The personalisation settings will take stock of your viewing habits in order to show you more relevant content. The sports section, for example, will be tailored towards your favourite sports and teams. This will go along with a new user interface, which, along with being widescreen, gives more personalised options and and new curated collections for easier navigation. Folders for 'most recent recordings' and 'favourite channels' will both be added.

Perhaps most importantly for 4K tv owners, Sky Q will begin to support HDR content, with Sky promising to double the amount of ultra HD content that's available by the end of the year. There's no specific timeline for this particular upgrade, though.

There's no set date for when the rest of these changes will happen, but customers should see them begin to roll out as early as next month.